I watched the whole race but missed how Tony finished 9th after spending most of the night in the P20's, 2 laps down. How did the #14 team do it? Well, here's a great breakdown:

At one point in the Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Tony Stewart was two laps down and outside the top-25. But when the checkered flag waved on the 65th annual race at the venerable 1.366-mile oval, Stewart was ninth.

It was an incredible rally for Stewart, crew chief Chad Johnston and the entire No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 team of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR.) It was the group’s fourth top-10 of the season and it moved Stewart up two spots in the championship point standings to 12th.

“To end up ninth after where we were most of the race, we’ll take it,” said Stewart, who now has 12 top-10s in 22 career Sprint Cup start at Darlington. “We were stuck in traffic all night, but right at the end, we were able to make some headway and get a top-10.”

Stewart started 23rd and while he was able to crack the top-20 and rise to 17th by lap 64, he was back in 23rd by lap 100 as his Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevy was too tight through the track’s corners. This handling condition stayed with Stewart throughout the majority of the race, and with a blistering pace being set by his SHR teammate Kevin Harvick, who ended up leading seven times for a race-high 238 laps en route to winning the Southern 500, Stewart eventually was mired in traffic and two laps down.

When the caution came out on lap 359 for fluid on the racetrack, Stewart radioed that his car was the best it had been. The constant tinkering Johnston had performed on the Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevy on each and every pit stop paid off. Stewart’s lap times were as good as the leaders, but they were seemingly irrelevant since Stewart wasn’t on the lead lap.

But thanks to some fortuitous caution periods and smart pit strategy by Johnston, Stewart earned his way back onto the lead lap. Still, he was stuck in traffic, all the way back in 21st position with only a handful of laps remaining.

But a caution for debris on lap 366 pushed the race into overtime, setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Johnston called Stewart to the pits for four fresh tires and no fuel, which meant Stewart’s car had plenty of grip and nowhere near the weight of his competitors.

Stewart restarted 13th and shot into the top-10 until the caution flag waved for the final time for Kurt Busch’s spin on the backstretch. In the next attempt at a green-white-checkered, Stewart muscled his way to ninth and held onto the spot until the finish. It was his 294th top-10 in 529 career Sprint Cup starts.

Harvick’s victory in the Southern 500 came from the pole. It was his first win in 18 career Sprint Cup starts at Darlington. The driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS also collected the 22nd point-paying Sprint Cup win for SHR since its inception in 2009. It was the organization’s third win this season, tops among all Sprint Cup teams. Harvick earned SHR’s first win of 2014 when claimed victory in the second race of the season at Phoenix International Raceway.

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy/Get Found Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 22nd. It was Patrick’s 54th career Sprint Cup start and her third at Darlington.

Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 31st. He was fighting for a spot in the top-10 when he was hit from behind and spun on lap 369, impacting the SAFER Barrier on the inside of the backstretch. Busch was uninjured in the crash, but his car was too damaged to continue.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished .558 of a second behind Harvick in the runner-up spot, while Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle rounded out the top-five. Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Larson, Stewart and Ryan Newman comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 11 caution periods for 50 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 374-lap race, which was extended seven laps by the green-white-checkered finish.

With round eight of 36 complete, Stewart leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He is 12th with 224 points, 73 behind first-place Gordon. Harvick is 22nd with 186 points, 111 out of first. Kurt Busch is 26th with 164 points, 133 out of first. Patrick is 29th with 143 points, 154 out of first.

The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off for Easter before returning to action April 26 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway for the Richmond 400. The race starts at 7 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its prerace show at 6:30 p.m.

Thanks for this post. I had things happening for the last many lapsand did not get to absorb it all. Did I miss a wave around call during the end??I was under the impression that he took a wave around near the end to get his lap back.

Being a long time Smoke fan, is somewhat akin to being a 49er fan of the 80's.Never count Smoke out of the game..... ever..

Thanks soooooo much for the explanation.....I thought when he didn't take the wave around like Danica and Carl did, the night was over......when Chad asked what can I do to make it better, and Tony said I need clean air....I chuckled to myself, thinking well thats not going to happen...., but CHAD is a magician at pulling the rabbit out of the hat at the right time......that was incredible!! Tony's car came into play and the rocket ship just took off!! AMAZING!! I went to get some ice for my tea, and my hubby said you are not going to believe this, even replaying it when Chad said to Tony you have 4 new tires, NO GAS and low pressure...I was thinking .....oh no, what if he runs out of gas...3 GWC.....Chad is incredible, amazing!!

The fact Tony is leading SHR in the points.....and Kevin is definitely in the chase and Kurt with his win......SHR should be smiling!! Wonder what they will have for the Victory Lunch Monday?!?

Wow, things happen when I leave the chatroom to go to bed. When I looked at the leaderboard thingy this morning it said that Jimmie had won. (and no I wasn't dreaming) I went into FB thinking that a certain something of Jimmie's didn't get broke good enough, but I guess it did. lol A certain someone will know what I'm talking about, lol. Way to go Tony and Kevin. And Schmoopy it's good to see the old you back. lol

Just as I thought that I had watched enough of Tony driving around in the 23rd position - there he is winning in the 9th! As a Pittsburgh Steelers Fan, I am very used to pulling off a win in the last 2 minutes of a game so I've learned the art of being a patient fan but even that caught me by surprise. Really proud of Tony and the whole SHR team(s). We are certainly kicking butt and taking names this season. Next................#14 in the winners circle.

I think Chad Johnston is pure genius......he has the ability to make things happen!! Tonys other crew chiefs never had the ability to solve the issues, they just gave up....Not Chad....he has done this three times that I know of, to make split second decisions that are incredible... Every time on the money stop, he just takes what would have been a 20th place finish and turns it into a top five or top ten..He works constantly during the race, on the set ups......He has come closer to solving handling issues for Tony than any of the other CC's.....I like him ALOT.....

they just gave up??? i think that statement in itself shows how much your blinded by tony and only acknowledge people that work for him at this moment, A genius? far from it, how many wins does Chad#2 have.... 1? he might be a good CC, but genius, not likely i guess Darrin Grubb had nothing to do with winning a championship in 2011?

michaeljohn wrote:they just gave up??? i think that statement in itself shows how much your blinded by tony and only acknowledge people that work for him at this moment, A genius? far from it, how many wins does Chad#2 have.... 1? he might be a good CC, but genius, not likely i guess Darrin Grubb had nothing to do with winning a championship in 2011?

OK MJ....So in the overview I agree with the Chad2 commentary.... I am / was surprised hemade it this far into the season......... and....... maybe there is more to him thanis apparent to us mere mortals, and informed fans. Genius.... um.... no...

I suspect there was more to the release of Darien than we might know now, if ever.

michaeljohn wrote:they just gave up??? i think that statement in itself shows how much your blinded by tony and only acknowledge people that work for him at this moment, A genius? far from it, how many wins does Chad#2 have.... 1? he might be a good CC, but genius, not likely i guess Darrin Grubb had nothing to do with winning a championship in 2011?

OK MJ....So in the overview I agree with the Chad2 commentary.... I am / was surprised hemade it this far into the season......... and....... maybe there is more to him thanis apparent to us mere mortals, and informed fans. Genius.... um.... no...

I suspect there was more to the release of Darien than we might know now, if ever.

*2 cents*

I still think it was a "trade"......Grub for Zippadelli

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